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It's lottery time for SDCC Souvenir Book prints

1 JUNE 2018

It's June, which means it's time to turn our sights onto the looming beast that is San Diego Comic-Con. If you're a first-timer - of which there seem to be a smaller than usual crop this year - then you may be wondering when all the good announcements start. While a few exclusives have been flashed around, now is when we'll begin to hear about the parties and shows and panels that will comprise your Comic-Con days and nights. And because SDCC is going to come up faster than you can imagine, I'll post a list of ways to start preparing this weekend.

Let's start by talking about this latest lottery SDCC is offering us. The cover of the 2018 Souvenir Book is out and it's a depiction of Marvel film characters by Matt Taylor. But what's different this year is that 1000 limited edition Mondo prints are being sold; and you can only buy one by being picked in a lottery.

Entering the Mondo Print Lottery

You can "submit interest" in CCI's words by logging into your Member ID account and visiting the Exclusives tab. This is for attendees only; no exhibitors, pros, press or other Comic-Con species are eligible to enter. Yes, probably all of those people know an attendee they can maneuver through, but I still like the way this is being handled. Being last in line is a long-standing attendee complaint. Using Member ID accounts to sort the attendees from everyone else is a good jumping off point for fixing that.

The deadline to enter is Thursday, 7 June, at noon PST. "On or around" 12 June you'll get an email telling you how to log into your account and find out if you were selected. Why can't the emails just tell you that directly? Because it's Comic-Con.

And if you don't get picked? A few more prints will be available through the Comic-Con museum in Balboa Park, so save your $$$$. Because those will definitely cost way more than the $70 you'll spend buying one as an attendee.

I know some of you dislike lotteries while others feel they are the closest thing to "fair" that we'll get in our Comic-Con world. It does seem to be the general MO for most of our endeavors, from hotel rooms to badges to autographs. Will Hall H move to a lottery system one day? That's not for me to opine on since I avoid it entirely, but I'm sure you devout campers have fierce opinions on it.

Back to first-timers. You can find out more about the Souvenir Book here. You'll get it for free when you enter the Con, a journal of articles and art that delve into specific pop culture topics and anniversaries. It's something to settle onto the sofa with when you're back home and have time to actually sit down and read. (You won't have that time at the Con.) And while all this hullabaloo about the Mondo prints might convince you they are absolutely indispensable to your SDCC experience - don't get too hung up on this lottery. Your chances are slim and it's healthy to work that into your perspective now. So don't be too sad if you don't get a print - you'll find a few other thousand things to spend your money on at Comic-Con.

I hope so! It'll make a perfect gift for my best friend. Also, there's a funko documentary now on Netflix. A lot of my friends collect them. Last Christmas, I received a funko La La Land. I loved that movie and the funko will be buried with me when I die!